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Do you favor modernizing the Maine state flag?

Legislators are considering a proposal that would change the description of the seal and design on the Maine state flag that would make it more modern and gender neutral.

Maine state flag

The seal, established in 1820, contains the following description: “The seal of the State shall be a shield, argent, charged with a pine tree with a moose at the foot of it, recumbent; supporters: on dexter side (right), a husbandman, resting on a scythe; on sinister side (left), a seaman, resting on an anchor.” The flag design features two male figures for the husbandman and seaman.

House Majority Leader Maureen Terry, a Gorham Democrat, has sponsored a bill that proposes to change the language in statute describing the seal so that the terms are gender neutral and direct the secretary of state to commission a redesign of the flag so that one of the figures is female.

If the official seal is changed to include a woman, hundreds of signs, business cards, websites and more would need to be updated.

Terry’s bill competes with two other proposals to alter the state’s flag that already have gone through committee. One would remove the state seal altogether and restore the original Maine flag – the 1901 version that features a green pine tree and blue North Star set against an off-white background. Another would authorize a referendum to let Maine voters to decide whether they want to keep the current flag or adopt the 1901 version.

But what do you think? Should the Maine state flag become gender neutral? Tell us in the poll and in the comments below.

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